Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife Park
Departure day from the Majestic Princess started off early at 06.15 for breakfast. We had a trip booked to go to the Featherdale Wildlife Park and Scenic World at Koombala to see the Blue Mountains. Our flight home was not until 22.00.
We disembarked the Majestic Princess early in the morning. After taking our suitcases through customs, they were then safely stowed on board the luxury coach taking all ten of us on our final excursion. It was a perfect day – the shine was shining and everything flowed well.
Our first stop was at the Featherdale Wildlife Park before heading on to the Blue Mountains.
The inhabitants were all indigenous to Australia. Well laid out, we were able to enjoy seeing all the creatures from sleepy-head koalas to young joeys hopping around freely.
Neither of us knew there was such a creature as a golden tree kangaroo … but here was just such an individual, happily munching eucalyptus leaves in the trees. He seemed a lot more tranquil than your average ‘roo.
Tempting as it was to wake the dozing river crocodile (huge, absolutely huge), we went for a sleepy photo. I declined to add my hand as scale to the picture …
I just love wombats – sort of ground dwelling koalas. Ended up bringing back a wombat soft toy …
In keeping with the tranquillity of the park, this Tasmanian Devil looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. This creature is only found on the island of Tasmanian and not on the mainland. They were much smaller than I had imagined.
After the wildlife park, we drove on to Scenic World in the Blue Mountains. It was a beautiful drive and the guide had lots of interesting information for us.
Scenic World at Katoomba in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains offers a range of experiences: Scenic Railway, Scenic Cableway and Scenic Skyway – luckily our excursion provided tickets for all three.
To the left is a picture of the Skyway.
The famous Three Sisters are not going to be around for much longer – erosion is speeding up and the sisters are already significantly smaller.
The bluish tinge in the air is due to the eucalyptus trees exuding a scent which actually colourizes the air.
The lower end of the Scenic Railway – a 52° (128%) incline in open terrain riding the steepest passenger railway in the world – gives you a bit of a thrill!
Afterwards we went for an excellent lunch in Katoomba with a stunning mountain view and delicious food and drink – even the service was top notch! Afterwards we found a nice souvenir shop a couple of floors down where we were able to pick up some mementos to take home with us.
Finally it was time for our holiday to end. After splendid day, we were dropped at the International Airport in Sydney and had 4 hours to wait before our long flight home.
For the first time ever, we decided to overnight at Heathrow before driving home – figured we wouldn’t be safe after a journey like that!